Media targeting – local media, how do media planners see it?

Authors

  • Tamás Szabó D. Pannon Egyetem Gazdálkodás- és Szervezéstudományok Doktori Iskola, 8200 Veszprém, Egyetem utca 10. Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14513/tge-jres.00423

Keywords:

local media, media targeting, media planning

Abstract

The study examines the issue of media targeting, its methods and practices, with particular attention to locality, media availability and the challenges associated with it.

Purpose – To map the current role of local media within the interpretative framework of media targeting as a marketing media activity. To gain a deeper understanding of the knowledge and beliefs of media agency professionals regarding media targeting and local media supply.

Design/methodology/approach – The research examines media targeting practices and beliefs regarding local media availability among leading media agency professionals through a secondary analysis of existing literature sources and market data and 11 in-depth expert interviews. The 11 semi-structured in-depth interviews were analyzed using the thematic text analysis method developed by Braun, & Clarke, (2006).

Findings – The results show that digital media is increasingly important for targeting in both the national and local markets. Traditional local media offerings are diverse and numerous, but larger media agencies are not exploiting their potential, mainly due to their fragmentation, less information and different communication standards compared to larger and national media. The research highlights the tension between data-driven personalized advertising and consumer privacy, and the fact that excessive targeting can even provoke resistance among consumers.

Originality – Media targeting and local media availability have been little studied in the literature in recent years, and the circle of leading media agency professionals has only rarely been the focus of research on the given topic.

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Published

2025-12-17

Issue

Section

Original Research Articles

How to Cite

Szabó D. , T. (2025). Media targeting – local media, how do media planners see it?. Tér - Gazdaság - Ember Journal of Region, Economy and Society. https://doi.org/10.14513/tge-jres.00423

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